Designing The Garden Arrival for the 2023 Kips Bay Dallas Show House
When we were asked to return to design the front landscape for the 2023 Kips Bay Dallas Show House, we didn’t hesitate. Not only are the Kips Bay Show Houses in New York, Palm Beach, and Dallas the preeminent designer showcases in the industry, but they support great causes. Giving back is a core value of ours at Melissa Gerstle Design.
When approaching the design, I began with an assessment of the existing conditions. Highlighting the majestic trees and providing balance and symmetry to the overall composition of the landscape was an immediate goal of mine.
In response to the architecture of the house, we designed a massive hedge that provides a central focus for the property and privacy for the homeowners. Within the enclosure of a hedge, we imagined showcasing a large-scale artwork. In addition to the area within the hedge, we composed two other spaces that welcome guests and provide places for gathering.
As experts at curating outdoor furnishings, we carefully selected the fabrics and furniture to complement the dark hue of the house and set the tone for the beauty that awaits within. Seating areas feature pieces from Brown Jordan, Sutherland, McKinnon and Harris, with fabrics from Perennials, Élitis, and Christopher Farr Cloth. I designed a special terrazzo coffee table for the sculpture garden seating area. The three areas of the front landscape present a cohesive design using scale, proportion, color, and texture, reflecting our mastery at manipulating materials and elements to deliver a complete vision.
Site Plan
Artwork Selection
I met Lea Weingarten on a Leaders of Design Council trip and knew she had an art consultancy, Weingarten Art Group. I approached her to source a large-scale artwork for the Kips Bay landscape. Weingarten offered options based on my design directive, and we worked closely together to select an appropriate piece. Upon viewing Gone, a striking figurative sculpture by Carolyn Salas, I imagined that the heroine of the sculpture was leaving chaos and seeking a place of solitude. The area we designed welcomes her; hence the title, The Garden Arrival.
Surrounded by a 10’ high hedge that creates a sanctuary for the viewer and the heroine of the sculpture, we placed the sculpture in an elliptical bed of densely planted Ardisia encircled by stone. Salas’ artwork can be viewed from various angles in multiple seating areas throughout the space, which includes a custom terrazzo coffee table I designed after not finding exactly what would fit into the landscape.
Rendering by Melissa Gerstle of The Garden Arrival featuring Gone by Carolyn Salas
Additional Spaces in the Front Landscape Designed by MGD
Nestled under the canopy of a large live oak tree, we created a shade garden which serves as a second place for gathering. This more intimate, circular space is enclosed by massed plantings comprised of textured layers of green with a bed of sedges, ferns, liguria and flax lilies. To amplify the muscular form of the branches, lanterns of varying sizes and forms we selected illuminate the area at night. The space also serves as a connection from the front garden to the terrace along with a bar cart for a cocktail or two, serving up southern hospitality before visiting the terrace. We designed seating that invites guests to linger around a low coffee table with lounge chairs in custom fabrics that coordinate with adjacent seating by the sculpture and a bench on the front porch.
An edited palette of plants along the foundation of the black-painted brick facade focuses on geometry and texture and serves as a sculptural foreground against the backdrop of the house. Cloud-pruned boxwoods and holly ferns both planted en-masse, provide contrast against the black walls. A Green Japanese Maple set next to the front porch gracefully balances the asymmetry of the home. We adorn the front porch with a teak bench, featuring a custom cushion and pillow in blush and shell tones and an off-white planter, all contrasting beautifully against the black backdrop. Zinc planters with florals and greenery are set at the front of the porch to define the space. The porch welcomes guests to the Show House.
Front Porch rendering
Thank You to Our Sponsor
Christine McKenny, Executive Vice President
Allie Beth Allman & Associates
Real Estate Dallas & Park Cities
Website: sellingdallas.com
IG: @christine_mckenny_dallas_agent
Thank you to Our Partners
Avant Garden
Branch Studio
Brown Jordan
Christopher Farr Cloth
Christopher William
Clark Outdoor Designs
Cush Living
Culp Associates
D Landscape
David Sutherland
e2Illumination Designs
Élitis
Holiday Warehouse
ID Collection
Joinus
McKinnon and Harris
Perennials Fabrics
The Urban Electric Co.
Todd Events
Tribú
Weingarten Art Group
Special Thanks
Addison Greene
Anabel Garcia
Ann Sutherland
Bailey Clark
Bonnie Nelson
Brian Utz
Carolyn Salas
Chad Dorsey
Cheryl Savit
David Sutherland
Lupe Hernandez
Lyndsay Kennedy
Francesca Velez
Haile Wossen
Jean Liu
Jeremiah Johnsen
Kerri McCulloch
Lacey Stallard
Lea Weingarten
Lora Grabowsky
Lynn Kimble
Margaret Shelhon
Mark Groening
Memo Orejel
Nazira Handel
Neil Landino
Ryan Richardson
Todd Fiscus
Val Cook
ABOUT LEA WEINGARTEN
Lea Weingarten began the Weingarten Art Group in 2011, after more than fifteen years of working with both public and private art collections in achieving their collecting goals. Weingarten Art Group stands at the intersection of art and strategy. Clients are divided equally among private collectors, commercial enterprises and public spaces seeking to enhance their spaces through art and artist collaborations. Weingarten Art Group has received ten national awards for bringing internationally acclaimed, highly accessible and extraordinarily popular artworks to public spaces.
She travels extensively both nationally and internationally to art fairs, public art venues, galleries and artist studios to meet the needs of all Weingarten Art Group clients. Lea holds a BA from Tufts University and an MBA from The Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
ABOUT CAROLYLN SALAS
Carolyn Salas was born in Hollywood, CA. She earned a BFA in sculpture from the College of Santa Fe and an MFA from Hunter College. Salas was just named a CODA Awards Top 100 artist for 2023 with her piece “Fighand.” In the artist’s own words:
“Oscillating between abstraction and figuration, my sculptures and site-specific installations explore the relationship between the body, architecture, and language. I create sculptures in dialogue with art history and ancient culture. Also embedded are recurring themes on the conflicting expectations and possibilities of womanhood and feminine identity.”
Carolyn Salas has attended residencies at the Abrons Art Center A.I.R. Space Program and The NARS Foundation, New York, NY; Blue Mountain Center, Blue Mountain Lake, NY; the Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; and the Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, NM. Selected exhibitions include the Berkshire Museum, Berkshire MA; Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, Santa Barbara Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara; and NADA Special Projects, Miami, FL.
